Huawei Cisco's 'toughest rival'

protection and computer security, All Things Digital reports.

Chambers, who was responding to a question at a Wall Street Journal event, did not cite any specific actions by Huawei, which competes with Cisco in sales of networking equipment. But he suggested that, by contrast, Cisco is considered trustworthy by governments around the world.

According to Smarthouse, Huawei's VP for external affairs, William Plummer, responded as follows:

"Such comments are unfortunate. Huawei has great respect for Cisco and, like Cisco, Huawei has earned trust and respect in the over 140 markets in which we do business, supporting over 500 telecommunications operators and connecting almost one-third of the world's population.”

Huawei has been prevented by the Australian government for bidding for any of the contracts on offer in the building of the National Broadband Network.

Cisco and Huawei have a history of tough competition, with Cisco reportedly suing Huawei for patent infringement, a case that was settled a year later, eWeek writes.

The Chinese company's networking business made a strong push into the North American market last year, hoping to grab some market share from Cisco and other vendors.